Bronze bust unveiled at Burt Reynolds’ Hollywood gravesite

(22 Sep 2021) BRONZE BUST UNVEILED AT BURT REYNOLDS' HOLLYWOOD GRAVESITE
A plaque and a palm tree weren't enough to mark the swagger and star power of Burt Reynolds.
That's why a bronze bust, mustachioed of course, and sporting his "Smokey and the Bandit" cowboy hat, were unveiled on Monday (21 SEPTEMBER 2021), three years after his death.
"Anybody else want to touch him?" Loni Anderson, Reynolds' wife from 1988 to 1994, asked the small crowd that gathered around the sculpture after the unveiling at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.
"Yes, he's made to be touched!" said Caroline P.M. Jones, the artist who made it.
Anderson and her son with Reynolds, Quinton, chose the spot where Reynolds' cremated remains were laid to rest in February, because it was next to a palm tree and water, which evoked his native Florida. A simple plaque with his name marked the spot.
Guests included actors Stefanie Powers and Ruta Lee.
Most gathered around the bust to get a close look and take pictures before heading to a screening of a new documentary, "I Am Burt Reynolds," for a far bigger audience on a nearby cemetery lawn.
While the bust's cowboy hat suggests a 1970s Reynolds, it's designed to look like a more ageless version.
Anderson opened by acknowledging that she wasn't, in the eyes of many, the most likely person to be offering fond remembrances of Reynolds, given the sometimes rocky relationship that played out constantly in the tabloids.
"There's nobody here that, unless you're from another planet who doesn't realize that we had a tumultuous 12 years together," Anderson said, speaking with her son at her side. "But I just want to remember the good times. And there were a lot of them."

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...